Michael sat with everyone else in the RoR, but a bit away from the group. It wasn't that these people weren't his friends, because they were. There was just something different today. Sitting back and watching everyone laugh and joke with each other, he tried to figure out what had changed, and then he noticed.
There was a new girl in the RoR today. One he'd never seen in here before. Her robes clearly indicated that she was a Hufflepuff.
She had her back turned to him, so he couldn't see who she was. She had long red hair, though, and it was all pulled back into a neat braid at the back of her head. He couldn't help but think that whenever this girl took the braid out, her hair would fall in shiny waves and probably be very soft.
Giving in to curiosity, Michael stood and made his way over to the group, taking a seat next to his best mate, Terry Boot. Casually he glanced over at the girl, and was very surprised to find a very familiar face. It was Susan Bones. A girl he had known and had potions class with since first year. He'd never noticed her very much, because potions was one of his best subjects, and he liked to immerse himself in his assignements, but looking at her now he wondered what had happened.
When has Susan gotten so.. Beautiful? And why had he never noticed before how spectacularly green her eyes were?
He found himself staring at this angelic girl, and didn't even notice that he had gone a bright red.
"Michael?"
He snapped out of it, and turned to the source of the voice. Hannah Abbott was smiling at him from the other side of the circle. When he looked at her, she raised her eyebrows and glanced at Susan.
Michael shook his head at Hannah, and lowered his eyes to the floor. He couldn't possibly like Susan in that way, she was just an aquaintance. Besides, after Melissa, he'd promised himself he wouldn't date again until after graduation.
All the same, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander back over to her over and over again for the rest of the evening.
On the way out of the RoR, when it was time for bed, Susan left before him. He found himself walking behind her, half the way back to his dorm. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't, and by the time he worked up the courage, they were at the hall where they would have to go in opposite directions.
Walking away from Susan, he wondered if she noticed him. He wondered what her favorite color was, if her hair was naturally red like that, where the freckles she'd had in first year had gone...
Stopping in his tracks, Michael was first very surprised at himself, and then resigned...
He had to face it. He had, completely accidentally, gotten a crush on Susan Bones.